Baker honored by the American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer program

Baker honored by the American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer program

Published: August 06, 2018

Author: Brandi Klingerman

Professor Brian Baker with the ACS Innovation Award.

Brian Baker, Rev. John A. Zahm Professor of Structural Biology at the University of Notre Dame, has received the Innovation Award from the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) local Coaches vs. Cancer program. The Innovation Award is described as being given to “an individual who demonstrates an innovative approach to treating or caring for cancer patients and their loved ones.”

Baker was recognized at the ACS’s Night of the Stars event on Friday, August 3, for his innovative research into cancer immunotherapy. The field of immunotherapy encompasses a broad category of cancer therapies that involves utilizing the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells.

“It is an honor to be recognized by the ACS for our research over the years at Notre Dame,” said Baker. “Our goal has always been to improve the development of innovative and more effective methods for treating and preventing cancer using the immune system.”

Throughout his 17 years at Notre Dame, Baker’s research has been funded by various agencies, including the ACS. Recent research from his laboratory has been published in prestigious journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Experimental Medicine, and Nature Immunology. In addition to directing his research laboratory, Baker is chair of Notre Dame’s department of chemistry and biochemistry and an affiliated faculty member of the Harper Cancer Research Institute.

The University of Notre Dame is a private research and teaching university inspired by its Catholic mission. Located in South Bend, Indiana, its researchers are advancing human understanding through research, scholarship, education, and creative endeavor in order to be a repository for knowledge and a powerful means for doing good in the world. For more information, please see research.nd.edu or @UNDResearch.